Figure this: Operation rescue

In the aftermath of the Uttarakhand floods that killed over 800 people and left more than 8,000 stranded,the Indian armed forces conducted one of the biggest air rescue operations ever,evacuating over 18,000 people. A look at some of the other major rescue operations around the world:

Mississippi Floods

Over 200,000 square miles of land was submerged in water up to a depth of over 11 inches. In a rescue operation lasted from January 19 to March 11,1937,the United States Coast Guard rescued over 839 people while evacuating over 60,000 refugees to safety.

The rescue effort used 351 boats,12 radio sets and 12 aircraft.

In Cincinnati,the flood waters caused the spill of thousands of gallons of gasoline from storage tanks. This fuel set off fires in buildings surrounded by water. In response,the Coast Guard boats pumped flood waters into the already inundated buildings to extinguish the flames.

Queensland floods

In the wake of one of the worst floods Australia had seen in 50 years,the Australian Army carried out rescue efforts in the flood-hit region as large as France and Germany combined,that impacted over 200,000 people and 70 towns in 2011.

Initial damage was estimated at around Australian 1 billion before it was raised to 2.38 billion.

Hurricane Katrina

In 2005,Hurricane Katrina affected an area of 90,000 square miles,equivalent to the area of Great Britain. The official death toll is 1,833,with the toll mired in dispute for several years. The US Coast Guard saved over 33,500 lives in one of the largest response efforts to a natural disaster. It took over 5,600 Coast Guard men to rescue people from rooftops and flooded homes along the Gulf coast,from central Florida to Texas.

The Bush administration was criticised for the response efforts as it took a number of days for the National Guard to arrive. It is believed that many of the National Guard personnel from this area were in Iraq.

Savar operation

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The Bangladeshi Army carried out a massive rescue operation after what is seen as the deadliest structural failure in modern human history. Bangladeshi authorities later closed 18 garment factories to prevent another mishap.2,438 people were rescued in a 20-day operation in 2013 while 1,127 bodies were recovered from the Savar Rana Plaza building collapse.

Mozambique floods

563 people were airlifted and 425 tonnes of vital supplies were distributed in March 5-19,2000,by UKs Royal Air Force during the Mozambique floods. The helicopters had to fly for 350 hours to carry out the search-and-rescue operations

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